How are you feeling today?
A bit tired today, but everything is under control. We’ve done 6 gigs so far and its been great. So, it’s great to be back marching across Europe.
Any special expectations from tonight, this concert in Zagreb?
No; I don’t have any special expectations. I prefer to be surprised. But it will be wild and intense as usual I hope!
What are your experiences from the gigs from the previous period as you played at some quite interesting loctations such as far east Europe and West Asia and such?
I think it doesn’t really matter where you are as people go crazy no matter where you are. I think we have played in around 72 countries. We were just in Georgia, Kazakhstan and Armenia. Its great to reach new territories! That’s fantastic!
What is your opinion on “cancel culture”?
It stupid, but people are mostly stupid so its not a surprise. But what can you do? There will always be retards and idiots trying to ruin everything for others instead of doing something positive in their life. It’s the way it is. There will always be idiots!
Your starting point was to maintain the most blasphemous band of all time. Have you succeeded? Are you satisfied?
That was more a thought at that time period where we were tired of the music scene. Its not a matter of being the most blasphemous, it was just a statement from that time. But we always believe in the strength and the power of what we are doing for 35 years now. We still do what we believe in and that’s what matters to us.
How do you maintain the originality and continuity of your starting point with all the changes in the band?
When you work with a lot of people I think its natural that people drift apart and wanna do different things. I think its natural with a lot of changes sometimes and sometimes there are no changes, eg. within some bands. We’ve always been a band that toured a lot and a lot od people don’t wanna tour as much, so…It’s just been a natural progression.
YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE AND PUT YOUR HEART AND SOUL IN IT
How do you feel as a living, walking legend?
Tired. Hahahahah;)
I mean: your huge influence and legacy behind you?
I don’t care, of course it’s flattering when you inspire people. But everything we’ve done has been doing the stuff we believe in. That’s the only way to make it all really matter. You have to believe and put your heart and soul in it, otherwise it’s not real.
Regarding war themes, what is your opinion on war in general?
War is something that has always been around and will always be around. As long as there are humans there will be war. I think it’s a natural part of humanity. Its always an ongoing conflict.
Some future predictions stated higher sense of consciousness among humans and no wars any more.
- Its not happening. Humans will always be humans.
Your thoughts about satanism?
It hasn’t changed a lot. You develop over the years but we are still very much a satanic band: my vision and mission grow over the years and hasn’t changed.
Have you had any consequences because of it, eg. losing support of a family member.
No. But I wouldn’t care if that happened as You gotta go where you wanna go in life.
Of course, there’s always a matter of explaining an artistic expression and liberties to those that oppose?
Yeah, but we don’t really try to explain anything. When it comes to music and lyrics: I think its up to everyone to make up their own mind and decide what’s it all about. Many people will see different things in it and experience it differently, I think.
What is your opinion on new bands?
If you have a good vision, you should continue. There are many new bands I don’t like, some I like. As long as people are driven to create- they should do it.
Do you have one specific advice for new bands?
I think it’s hard giving advice as everyone functions differently. But whatever you do you have to be motivated and believe in what you do. If you want someone else to believe in you: you have to look into yourself and believe in yourself fully. That’s the most important and being genuine.
What is the difference between now and 20 years ago?
Of course, it changed a lot. Eg. if I go back to the time we started out, on the black metal scene it was just a handful of bands and you knew more or less every band. But it exploded and the scene is so much bigger than it was expected back then.
Is it more crowd at the gigs nowadays?
It all depends from tour to tour. Sometimes you see people that were at the shows in 90s, but they disappeared for several decades and they come back to shows. They have families and people come and go. But overall, it’s a strong scene in Europe for metal, all kinds of metal. And its always been strong compared to other places. The States are more affected by trends than eg. Europe.
What do you do in your free time?
There’s always stuff to do around the band. But apart from that, I like to be outdoors: fishing, hunting and stuff like that.
Do you consider yourself an introvert?
In some ways maybe, I don’t know. It’s up to others to decide that.
Do you have time ever to visit the cities and see any sites?
If there are some places I wanna see: I go and see them. There’s one thing I missed today as there was a big statue of Professor Baltazar. The statue is gone now so I really missed seeing that today.
Do you explore some other cities or just the ones that are on the tour?
When I’m not on a tour I don’t travel that much, I just prefer being outdoors and being around where I live and research those areas. I like to do a lot of historical travels in Sweden and see places I wanna see, like old graves, old churches and such. Buildings also, I like when it’s a lot of culture and history around it. Over the years I always explored the museums I wanted to see.
Did you visit all museums you wanted?
I have seen majority, but of course, depending on the tour dates: there are always places I would like return to and visit the missed out.
Do you have a special venue you would like to play at?
In Europe, we played a lot of places, but I would like to play in Africa. We have been everywhere, but haven’t been to Africa and that would be great.
I was thinking of a special venue like a church or something like that?
Colosseum would be nice of course. That would be a fantastic place to do it.
I recommend Amphitheatre in Pula as a great venue and hopefully it will come to life- that you play there!
Great idea! We played at Amphitheatre in Check Republic once and that was great.
Do you have a ritual or a special item to have before the concert?
Not really. Sometimes all gather, have ice cold shots of vodka and then: you know what to do! I come into the moment the moment I enter the stage, I don’t have to do anything to prepare beforehand. It comes naturally.
Are you nervous before the show?
No, not really. Of course, you have a gut feeling beforehand but I believe everyone does. I don’t do the shots because of being nervous, but just to have to feeling of getting up and just nail it!
When you look back throughout your whole career, especially touring, what would you pick as a worst and a best thing?
Impossible to say as we have done a lot of touring and there have been some really dreadful moments and a lot of fantastic. We have done thousands of shows so its hard to pick out something specific, there’s always some ups and downs. Most hoffific are planes cancelled, bags being lost when flying and shit like that.
The interview has been conducted with Morgan Steinmeyer Håkansson on 19 February 2025 in Zagreb by Pavao Hodap and Kristina Hećimović.
MARDUK, Doodswens, Sumus Diabolus Incarnatus, Irae @Boogaloo Zagreb, 19.2.2025
